Members had met previously with North East Wales coroner John Gittins to ask him to consider whether inadequate flood prevention methods were to blame for Mrs Hughes’ death.

They believe the bridge at Spring Gardens Caravan Park created a bottleneck which led to a forceful back flow of water, and say they have video evidence to prove it could have had an impact beyond the A55.

Meanwhile, Mrs Hughes’ family have been handed an extensive file of witness statements and technical accounts from organisations such as Natural Resources Wales and Denbighshire Council.

Gwen said: “All we want to know is what happened and that all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together. There are questions to be asked about everything leading up to the tragedy, from inconsistencies over the flood warning system to the time scales and water levels.

“My mum never had a landline phone but all the relevant people had my contact details, and the two previous occasions in 2000 and 2009 when there was a flood risk to the area I was sent an alert by phone. Why didn’t I get one this time? If I had, I would have been there like a shot.

“I want to be sure that lessons have been learnt from this event, I would hate for anyone else to have to go through what we are going through.”

Gwen Jones, daughter of Margaret Hughes who died in St Asaph floods, and John Wynne Jones who is representing the family at Ruthin

Reflecting on the fateful day she found out her mum had died, Gwen, who lives in Denbigh, said: “The first I knew there had been any flooding in St Asaph was when my son called round to my house after finishing his night shift at 8am on November 27.

“He’d been diverted on his route home by police stopping traffic from going into St Asaph and he came straight to me to let me know there had been a flood.

“I switched on the news to see the shocking scenes and the first thing I did was ring the warden to ask about Mum.

“I was on pins while I waited to hear back from her and didn’t know what to do with myself, until in the end I decided I was going to head up to St Asaph to make sure she was OK.

“The police wouldn’t let anyone anywhere near the roads and everyone was being told to go to the leisure centre.

“I made my way there and walked around for ages looking for Mum, constantly checking the ambulances to see who’d been brought in. It was chaos but the minutes seemed like days until another of my sons said he was going to try and drive straight to his nain’s street.”

She added: “A short while later, I decided to walk down towards Tai’r Felin to meet him, when a police car with flashing lights approached us.

“It wasn’t until it pulled up in front of us and I saw my son get out that I realised it was bad news. He just said: ‘Mum, they’ve found Nain.’ Everything after that was just a daze.”

A few days later, Gwen visited her mum’s bungalow, describing the ordeal as “horrible”. As the water had risen as high up as the window sills there was nothing that could be salvaged and all sentimental items had been lost.

“All of my mum’s clothes and belongings had to be thrown out as everything was contaminated,” added Gwen. “A couple of little ornaments and a gold ring is all I have left.”

Paying tribute to her mum, Gwen said: “Mum lived in Tai’r Felin for 42 years. We moved there after rheumatoid arthritis forced my dad to give up work on the Waen farm in Rhuddlan.

“Mum met my dad, Hugh, when she worked as his housekeeper. They got married when she was 32. My dad passed away in 1978 and my mum lived independently in the bungalow when I left home.

“We are a really close knit family and would always call in on her to make sure she was all right. She was also really close to all her friends and neighbours, they would always be doing things and looking out for each other.”

Mrs Hughes suffered with curvature of the spine and while she was mobile around the house, she needed a wheelchair for longer journeys.

Gwen said: “Mum died two days before what would have been her 92nd birthday. I had made plans for us to do a little bit of shopping and have some dinner somewhere nice. We all miss her so much. All the ifs and buts are stopping the family from having any closure. We need it so we can come to terms with what’s happened.”

Mrs Hughes also leaves behind five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Inquest to be held in October

A five day inquiry into the death of Margaret Hughes in the St Asaph floods will be held in October.

More than 60 witnesses – 28 of whom must give evidence in person – will provide statements for the inquest of the 91-year-old, whose body was discovered after more than three feet of water engulfed her bungalow in November 2012.

They include Margaret's daughter Gwen, local residents, police officers, emergency services staff, rescue crew members, and a representative from the Environment Agency.

At a pre-inquest hearing in Ruthin yesterday, North East Wales coroner John Gittins ruled that the inquiry would proceed at the same venue without a jury on a provisional date of October 13.

Mr Gittins discussed the possibility of calling a jury with John Wynne Jones, a member of the city's Residents Action Group and representing the family, and barrister Graham Wells, acting on behalf of North Wales Police.

Mr Wells said that Mr Gittins had the discretion to do so if he had a reasonable suspicion that an officer had not done his or her duty.

On the morning the floods hit, Mrs Hughes was visited at 9.15am by two Red Cross workers and local resident Stephen Green, who acted as a translator for the Welsh speaking pensioner, asking if she wanted to evacuate her property at that time. “She gave a very clear answer that she was warm, having breakfast and didn't think the water would come in,” said Mr Wells.

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He added that the police had no powers to evacuate a resident from their property against their will, and by 9.38am that day those who stayed in their homes had indicated that they wanted to. By 9.58am the flood levels in some places had risen by seven feet.

Mr Gittins said the police “failure to knock on the door” was not sufficient reason alone to call for a jury, particularly as they had no power to evacuate residents anyway. Mr Wynne Jones said they would have preferred a jury inquest to get the “more overall view of the public”.

Mr Gittins responded: “I want to ensure we have the most comprehensive inquest possible for Margaret Hughes' family and indeed all the other parties involved. With a jury I act as a referee. My focus is on them rather than the inquiry to an extent. It is not my job to hold a public inquiry into flooding. That said, it will be necessary to look at the facts and issues surrounding it, like what was happening on the ground.”